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“But we have to wait just a minute,” I yell back.

Mom puts her hand on her hip and then finally gets back in the car and parks it. Then Mom and Jennifer walk across the parking lot.

“Hi, Mom!” Lincoln yells, running to his mom.

Ms. French starts talking on her cell phone. “Hello, is this Cherry Sullivan? Hi. This is Ms. French at Ironwood Elementary. I have your daughter here, waiting to be picked up.”

Mom comes over and bends down. “Hi, Son. What’s going on?” She glances at Iris and smiles. “Why, hello there. I’m Evelyn. Oh . . . why the sad face?”

“I’m Iris,” Iris says, bursting into tears.

My mom puts her hand on her shoulders. “Oh, honey, what’s the matter?”

Iris is crying too hard to tell her.

“Her mom didn’t come to get her,” I whisper.

“What time do you think you can be here?” Ms. French is asking. “Oh, I’m afraid that is too late. Do you have someone else who can pick her up?”

“I can take her wherever she needs to go,” my mom says. “Or she can come to our house this afternoon.”

“She’s Cherry Sullivan’s daughter,” Ms. French whispers to my mom, putting her hand over the phone.

“Okay.” Mom nods. “Sounds good.” She smiles at Iris.

“Evelyn Harrington is here, and she’s saying she could take Iris home, or Iris is welcome to go to their house for a while,” Ms. French says into the phone. “Are you comfortable with that?” She smiles at my mom and nods. “Okay, wonderful.”

She hangs up and smiles at all of us. “Thank you so much, Evelyn. She asked if you could take her to Little Lark. She’s the second one on the right.”

“149 Snowbird Lane, lot two,” Iris says.

“Right. That’s exactly right,” Ms. French says.

“Okay, excellent. Let’s get you home, Iris. I love that name,” Mom says. “Maybe next time, we can bring you to our house instead. You can play with Maverick and Lincoln.”

“Hi!” Lincoln says brightly. He makes a funny face, and Iris giggles. “Can we go?”

“Yes, we’re going,” Jennifer tells him. “Hold your horses.”

“That’s what Maverick does,” Lincoln says. “I hold the ball.” He poses with the football, and Iris and I both laugh.

“That’s Lincoln,” I tell Iris. “He has a ball all the time.”

She grins, and I’m so happy she’s not crying, I grin back.

“How was the first day of school, kiddos?” Mom asks.

“It was long,” Lincoln says.

“I didn’t mind it so much,” I say, looking at Iris.

“Really?” Mom says, ruffling my hair. “Aren’t you glad you gave it a try?”

We get in the car and buckle up. Mom starts driving and looks in her rearview mirror.

“What about you, Iris? Did you have a good day at school?”

“I had the best day,” she says. “Otis has already taught me how to read, but I enjoyed reading time the most. That’s when I met Maverick!” She glances at me.